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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28187787">a warm slice of summer</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellalunar/pseuds/stellalunar'>stellalunar</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stray Kids (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Getting Together, Long-Distance Friendship, M/M, Short &amp; Sweet, Summer, Summer Love, but less short and more sweet okkkkk, but they cant acknowledge it, but they do eventually :D, its not the main focus tho!, jisung and minho met one summer on the islands and they talk all the time now, jisung surprises minho by showing up one summer :O, lots of facetime calls, theyre so in LOVE god</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:47:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,158</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28187787</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellalunar/pseuds/stellalunar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Anyways, hyung, your summer break is in a week, right?" Jisung asked as he stood up. The camera wobbled slightly where it was propped up, but it straightened out a moment later when Jisung brushed off his shorts and crouched down so he was in frame again. </p>
<p>"Yep," Minho answered. He watched Jisung dart around the room, hanging up this shirt on a hanger and throwing that one off the bed by accident. </p>
<p>"I'm sending a surprise for you when you finish school," Jisung grinned, pausing as he straightened the shoulders of a flannel. "I lined it up so that the delivery date would be the same as your first day off." </p>
<p>Or,</p>
<p>In which Jisung and Minho know FaceTime calls better than anyone, and they're so in love it doesn't feel so far away.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>245</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>a warm slice of summer</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Odd. </p>
<p class="p1">That was the word Minho heard most often about this...well, this <em>thing</em> he had going on with Jisung. </p>
<p class="p1">It was never really said with a lot of intent, mostly just thrown around by his friends carelessly with no real malice tucked underneath it. It was always sort of airy, sort of like an ingenuine request to learn more without the real need to investigate any further. </p>
<p class="p1">But still, it always had Minho wondering. </p>
<p class="p1">Minho had met Jisung in the summer of 2017 when he was visiting his grandparents on the island. It had truly been a coincidence that Jisung often stopped by to help out at his grandparents' grocery store and Minho just happened to tag along with them whenever he couldn't think of anything better to do. And maybe it was strange; his grandparents told him Jisung was painfully shy, but he was talking a mile a minute to Minho an hour after they left the grocery store together. </p>
<p class="p1">He didn't know what it was, truthfully neither of them did, but they clicked so quickly it was slightly terrifying. His grandparents had been in absolute awe when Minho told him that he and Jisung were going to hang out on the beach the day after they met for the first time, but they'd been absolutely ecstatic that Minho made a friend so far from home. </p>
<p class="p1">It wasn't 'odd' that they kept in touch. That was hardly what his friends blanched at when they learned of Jisung's role in Minho's life. </p>
<p class="p1">What garnered the reaction was when he'd admitted, scarlet-cheeked and heated all over, that on his last day on the islands he'd kissed Jisung before he left. </p>
<p class="p1">And honestly, Minho didn't remember a lot of details of when he'd last visited the islands, barely remembered half the things he'd done with Jisung that summer, but he very clearly remembered the sun setting when Jisung had hugged him goodbye with red-rimmed eyes and Minho's heart had surged with devastation, because apparently all it took was a summer to get attached. </p>
<p class="p1">And he remembered, as the train whistled forlornly in the distance, that he'd followed his instincts and, before he really had been able to register what he was doing, his lips were on Jisung. And then he was running, and if he told himself it was just because he'd miss the train, he was lying. </p>
<p class="p1">When he worked up the courage to text Jisung a week later, back home in his own apartment with his irritating roommate, neither of them mentioned it. </p>
<p class="p1">There was no label on them other than friends who lived a body of water apart, but every time someone mentioned 'odd', Minho always started to wonder again. </p>
<p class="p1">Jisung now lived in the world of FaceTime and pixels that did his bright smile absolutely no justice. He lived in the world of poor connection and tinny voices, almost like it taunted Minho how out of reach he seemed even when he was just a screen away. </p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>"Hyung? What about this one?" </em>
</p>
<p class="p1">Jisung's voice was what broke Minho out of his thoughts as he finally focused on the screen, where Jisung held up a blue and white plaid shirt that looked like it had seen better days. The sleeves were still rolled up and the edges were worn, color bleached a few shades lighter than it used to be, but he nodded anyways. </p>
<p class="p1">"Keep," Minho said, and he meant it. Perhaps he was biased because he'd seen Jisung wear the shirt one too many times for him to agree to him throwing it out, or because he personally thought it fit Jisung skin to bone. </p>
<p class="p1">Jisung was the human epitome of beach boy, all warm tanned skin and hair that was bleached by his hours in the sun, bright white smile and the same silver necklace that always rested on his collarbones hanging from his neck. He was lean and constantly complained about losing weight too easily, but his limbs were taut and defined from the time he spent on his surfboard. He fit every stereotype of the heartbreaker type, and was so starkly different that Minho had nearly reeled at the comparison when he'd first met Jisung. </p>
<p class="p1">He'd had a hard time pinning 'painfully shy' to a boy who looked like Jisung, but he believed it soon enough when he'd frozen up, pin-drop silent when he'd been introduced to Minho until Minho had started talking first. Then, Minho had realized, it was hard to get Jisung to stop talking, but he didn't really think he wanted to. </p>
<p class="p1">Perhaps all Minho could see of him now was glitchy smiles and water-damaged hair, but he wouldn't give it up for anything. </p>
<p class="p1">Jisung pulled a face and moved back from the screen to glance at the shirt properly again. </p>
<p class="p1"><em>"Are you sure?"</em> he wrinkled his nose. <em>"The salt literally bleached the blue out of this." </em></p>
<p class="p1">Minho watched Jisung with a fondness that he never thought he'd be able to hold for one person. </p>
<p class="p1">"It looks nice on you," Minho said finally, and maybe he didn't even want Jisung to hear it with how quietly he did but Jisung perked up anyways. </p>
<p class="p1"><em>"Really? If you say so,"</em> and with that, it was tossed in the 'keep' pile on his bed. </p>
<p class="p1">And if Minho's heart fluttered a little at Jisung agreeing to keep the shirt because of him, no one but Minho needed to know that. </p>
<p class="p1">Jisung often called him later in the day, when the sun was spraying gold through the floor-to-ceiling window in his room and painting Minho a picture of caramel skin and shadows wherever bones angled. Minho's own room didn't bring the same picturesque effect, with him in a hoodie and his overhead light flickering out every once in a while. It made him miss the islands sometimes, where all he'd had to think about was how Jisung smelled like sunscreen and salt. </p>
<p class="p1">It really was strange, though, if Minho thought about it just so. </p>
<p class="p1">All Jisung knew was sandy beaches and cloudless nights, tall grass and salty water. All Jisung knew was open concerts and acoustic guitars, barefoot jogs and sunkissed lines where the horizon met the sea. </p>
<p class="p1">And all Minho knew was busy cities and neon lights, onyx nights and secondhand cigarette smoke. All Minho knew was mourning dove calls and grungy corner stores, gray parking centers and honking taxis. </p>
<p class="p1">They should have clashed, should have repelled somewhere in the middle, should have fallen apart a week in. But they didn't. Minho and Jisung were on different ends of the horizon and they still attracted. </p>
<p class="p1">Minho was used to longing he had Jisung next to him again, whether on a rickety old pier or the balcony of a skyscraper. He was used to the feeling of wishing he'd stayed on the islands or wished Jisung had come on that train with him. </p>
<p class="p1">"Is that Sungie?" Hyunjin walked into Minho's room and glanced over his shoulder. Hyunjin had met Jisung over FaceTime when Minho was still on the islands because he called every day just to make sure Minho was still alive and well. </p>
<p class="p1"><em>"Hyunjin?"</em> Jisung sat up and smiled, gesturing at Minho to turn the camera. <em>"Hi!" </em></p>
<p class="p1">"Hi, Sungie!" Hyunjin raised his voice across the room so Jisung could hear him and waved when Minho turned the camera begrudgingly in his direction. "How's it going?" </p>
<p class="p1"><em>"Great!"</em> Minho knew it every time he called Jisung, but he would never get over how much he loved to hear Jisung talk. There was animation about him that was so intriguing to everyone around him. <em>"Hyungie is helping me sort out my closet." </em></p>
<p class="p1">Minho rolled his eyes playfully as he turned the screen back to himself. </p>
<p class="p1">"I'm trying," he shook his head. "Jisung wants to get rid of everything and go naked." </p>
<p class="p1">Jisung sputtered, and Hyunjin laughed from the bed across the room. </p>
<p class="p1"><em>"I'm not!" </em>Jisung protested, crossing his arms. <em>"You want me to keep everything!" </em></p>
<p class="p1">Maybe Minho was caught there. He didn't exactly want Jisung to keep everything, but he knew that Jisung getting rid of half his closet meant that he'd buy that many more new clothes. It was probably selfish of him to think the way he did, but he wanted Jisung to stay the same as in his memories of him. </p>
<p class="p1">"Really?" Hyunjin shot Minho a look that was undecipherable. "Hyung is always trying to make me get rid of <em>my</em> closet." </p>
<p class="p1">"Shut up, Hyunjin," Minho grumbled. He didn't even have to look at Hyunjin to know he was smiling smugly at Minho. </p>
<p class="p1"><em>"Don't be mean to Hyunjinnie," </em>Jisung grinned brightly at Minho in a way that let him know he knew exactly what he was doing. </p>
<p class="p1">"Yeah, Minho-hyung, don't be mean to Hyunjinnie," Hyunjin parrotted, and his smug smile was amplified a billion times greater. </p>
<p class="p1">Jisung liked to act totally clueless on the other side of the screen, but the little twitch of his pixelated lips gave away that he was completely clued in on what he was doing. </p>
<p class="p1">"Brat," Minho said fondly, shaking his head. He saw Hyunjin pretending to gag out of the corner of his eye but he didn't give him the pleasure of attention or a reaction. </p>
<p class="p1"><em>"Anyways, hyung, your summer break is in a week, right?" </em>Jisung asked as he stood up. The camera wobbled slightly where it was propped up, but it straightened out a moment later when Jisung brushed off his shorts and crouched down so he was in frame again. </p>
<p class="p1">Minho nodded. His finals would end at the end of the week, and then he'd be ready to sleep in until noon every morning to catch up on all the sleep he missed. And he'd also get to talk to Jisung for longer, too, which always left him giddier for longer than it was probably healthy for him to be. </p>
<p class="p1">"Yep," Minho answered. He watched Jisung dart around the room, hanging up this shirt on a hanger and throwing that one off the bed by accident. </p>
<p class="p1"><em>"I'm sending a surprise for you when you finish school," </em>Jisung grinned, pausing as he straightened the shoulders of a flannel. <em>"I lined it up so that the delivery date would be the same as your first day off." </em></p>
<p class="p1">"What?" Minho was flabbergasted. Hyunjin was tuned in too from the other side of the room, leaning off of his bed slightly so he could eavesdrop on the conversation better. "Sungie, why? You didn't have to do anything?" </p>
<p class="p1"><em>"You've sent me like, fifty necklaces, hyung," </em>Jisung laughed. His earrings glinted in the late afternoon sunlight that painted his room warm yellow as he moved. <em>"Just for existing. Let me have this one, okay?" </em></p>
<p class="p1">Minho flushed. It was true. He often saw this and that pendant that reminded him of Jisung and had recently stopped wincing every time he saw the delivery fee, because he stopped caring about the dent it took out of his paycheck. Besides, Jisung wore them all one day or another, too often for Minho to stop sending them. Maybe he had a problem, but his heart skipped in his chest whenever he saw the younger boy wearing one of them. </p>
<p class="p1"><em>"Great," </em>Jisung finished before Minho really had the chance to reply to him. <em>"I've gotta help Auntie carry some boxes down to the post office in a few minutes, so I'm gonna hang up, okay? I'll stop bothering you for your finals week, but expect me to constantly bombard you when your break starts." </em></p>
<p class="p1">"Okay, Sungie," Minho smiled softly at him and waved. "Bye." </p>
<p class="p1"><em>"Good luck on your finals!" </em>Jisung yelled, and then he was cut off when Minho ended the call. </p>
<p class="p1">"Minho-hyung, you smiled 34 times since I entered the <em>room</em>," Hyunjin said, nearly the second Minho was off the phone. "Why can't you love me too?" </p>
<p class="p1">"Shut the fuck up," Minho rolled onto his stomach and reached for his phone charger. He was not in the mood to be teased by Hyunjin for hours over talking to Jisung the same way he did every three days. </p>
<p class="p1">"Your favoritism is so blatant the neighbors can probably smell it," Hyunjin continued. "How can you favor someone over the phone?" </p>
<p class="p1">"Because the someone over the phone doesn't drop chip crumbs on my bed and ask my to buy him coffee all the time," Minho said, plugging his phone in and then deciding he was too tired to roll back off of his stomach. He settled for scrolling through Instagram tiredly instead. </p>
<p class="p1">"Bullshit," Hyunjin responded immediately. "You spent half your paycheck on one necklace because he likes roses and the pendant was shaped like a rose." </p>
<p class="p1">Minho chose, very wisely, not to respond to that comment. Not because he didn't have an answer, but just because he decided he'd had enough Hyunjin Time for one evening. He just zipped his mouth shut and kept scrolling, absentmindedly liking this and that picture as he went and pausing to comment something obnoxious on Chan's latest picture of him and Felix eating ice cream. </p>
<p class="p1">Hyunjin sighed very heavily, but he acknowledged Minho's dexterity in tuning out. </p>
<p class="p1">One picture in particular caught Minho's eyes a few minutes down his feed, one that he'd somehow managed to miss. Jisung rarely updated his Instagram, choosing to use his FaceTime calls to update Minho on his life's endeavors rather than post on Instagram for his scarily large following to drool over (Minho was quite sure that had something to do with his whole 'beach boy' aesthetic that he certainly was clueless about). </p>
<p class="p1">Jisung always was rather clueless about the number of girls who giggled over him when he got on his surfboard or came out of the water dripping wet, and he was almost bubbled out from how Minho also happened to stare for a few seconds too long. But if he wasn't going to figure it out himself, Minho figured he was better in the dark. </p>
<p class="p1">The picture was of Jisung sitting on the edge of the wooden pier with one of his hands in the water. He was turned to the side and Minho was nearly certain he'd had no idea the picture was being taken, but the setting sun still cast shadows on his face and made his silhouette darker against the bright background. It was captioned by Jeongin, a younger boy Minho had found frequently met with Jisung to ride bikes or eat lunch. </p>
<p class="p1">[jisung wasn't going to do it, so i did it for him :p you're welcome minho hyung] </p>
<p class="p1">Minho flushed immediately and ducked his head, as if Jisung (or Jeongin) could see him. The post was a couple of days old but Minho took the liberty of commenting on it anyways, responding more to Jeongin than he did to Jisung. He thought a lot of compliments in his head (some very clearly more explicit than others) but then kept them there, choosing to safely lock them somewhere where only he and his brain could discuss them. </p>
<p class="p1">And if he went back to look at the picture before fell asleep again, that was also something only he and his brain needed to discuss. </p>
<p class="p1">Finals week came and went, and Minho managed to not fail any of his exams too badly. The semester ended as quickly as it had come, and he and Hyunjin went out for dinner on the day of their last exams just to leave the apartment they'd cooped themselves up in for the past week. The sky was dark already by the time they made it to a restaurant but they went inside anyways, shoulders so much lighter now that the stress of the college year was over. </p>
<p class="p1">"Oh God, I missed real food so bad," Hyunjin moaned obscenely over his tteokbokki. "<em>Fuck</em> ramen." </p>
<p class="p1">Minho rolled his eyes, but it was more out of habit than it was out of disagreement. He and Hyunjin both had kind of lived off of random cup ramen they'd bought at some point and shoved in their cupboard, three meals a day. It had gotten to the point that the only bit of real food they'd eaten was when Chan dropped off leftovers from Felix's barbeque night (and then drove home and came back with more when he realized that was all they'd eaten). </p>
<p class="p1">"You'll regret saying that when your wallet's empty," Minho said, but he shoved a cheesy bite of rice cake in his mouth and barely held back a satisfied moan of his own because <em>damn</em>, it was good. </p>
<p class="p1">"That's a September-Hyunjin problem," Hyunjin shook his head and shoved a bite in his already-full mouth. "This is a June-Hyunjin investment." </p>
<p class="p1">Minho groaned. "June-Hyunjin needs to eat with his mouth closed or June-Minho will throw up." </p>
<p class="p1">He did shut his mouth after that. Minho figured he savored the tteokbokki too much for it to be thrown up on. </p>
<p class="p1">"Oh, by the way, I'm borrowing Chan's car at like, 5-ish tomorrow," Hyunjin said. Minho looked up from his bowl of food and quirked an eyebrow in confusion. </p>
<p class="p1">"What for?" </p>
<p class="p1">"I promised my mom I'd take her shopping in Itaewon for a couple of hours tomorrow, so I'll be back around 7." </p>
<p class="p1">Minho shrugged and continued eating his food. </p>
<p class="p1">He did check his phone almost continuously to see if Jisung had texted him, only because he'd made it a point to text Minho right at the end of his last exam date to ask how everything went. The night passed and Jisung didn't text, and Minho was only slightly worried. It was quite likely that Jisung was busy and had gotten caught up in something, but still, Minho fell asleep with his phone in his hand. </p>
<p class="p1">Hyunjin did, indeed, make the long and treacherous three-block walk to Chan's apartment instead of having him drive, the next day, bidding Minho a goodbye and then hopping off to take his mom shopping. </p>
<p class="p1">Minho's phone buzzed not too long afterwards and he looked down, pulling it out of his pocket to check the notification. </p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <b>jisungie &lt;3 </b>
</p>
<p class="p1">hi hyung! </p>
<p class="p1">sprry i forgot to ask soonwr </p>
<p class="p1">was busy yestwrdsy </p>
<p class="p1">how were finsls? </p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">Minho frowned. Jisung's texts were usually adorned with many more exclamation marks and many less typos, and though he hadn't really been thrown off by not receiving a directly-after finals text, it still broke the two-year tradition he'd had going on. </p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p2">
  <b>me</b>
</p>
<p class="p2">hi sungie! </p>
<p class="p2">they were good :)</p>
<p class="p2">didn't fail any classes and thats good enough for me </p>
<p class="p2">no worriesss everything ok?</p>
<p class="p1"><b>jisungie &lt;3 </b><br/>
<br/>
yes everythings good! </p>
<p class="p1">jist somwthing came up p </p>
<p class="p1">im glad! </p>
<p class="p1">i gotta go but ill tx=wxt u later hyungie &lt;3</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">Minho's second eyebrow came up to join his first at his hairline. Something was definitely strange, but if Jisung wasn't going to tell him about it Minho wasn't going to push, either. He simply replied with 'okay call me soon sungie!' and then closed his phone, setting it on the side. </p>
<p class="p1">It was 5 PM and the sun was still bright and high in the sky, and the apartment was lonely. Though he'd never say it to Hyunjin's face Minho quite enjoyed having the younger boy around to keep him company--he'd probably drive himself crazy trying to live alone. </p>
<p class="p1">However, the particular date of the day was what had Minho sitting up straighter. Hadn't Jisung mentioned a package was supposed to be coming today? Had that been what was keeping him so busy? But if he'd lined up the date of the package to be delivered today, wouldn't he have had to order it to be delivered sooner? </p>
<p class="p1">Jisung had given him ultimately no information other than the fact that the package was coming. Minho had had a dream last night, and perhaps it was a selfish dream, that he'd received a package that smelled like saltwater and sunscreen, and he'd opened it to find a tiny little Jisung inside waiting to hug him with open arms. He must have been going crazy, but Minho woke up missing Jisung more than ever. </p>
<p class="p1">He wondered if he'd be able to make his way down to the islands this summer and ask if he could stay with his grandparents for a couple of weeks. He hadn't seen Jisung in so long and at this point he seemed to be going crazy. </p>
<p class="p1">The sun was beginning to set when Hyunjin returned to the apartment. Well, more like the sun was beginning to bleed pink into the sky when Chan's car pulled up in the lot outside the apartment complex (and Minho wasn't watching, he just happened to be standing at the window) and Hyunjin got out of the driver's seat. </p>
<p class="p1">Minho turned away quickly, collapsing into the sofa before Hyunjin could look up or something and see him staring creepily out the window. The apartment's windows faced at an angle from the sun so it always looked gloomy, but at this time of day the angle was just so that a pinkish glow cast over the wooden floors and the place didn't feel so lonely anymore. </p>
<p class="p1">(Minho was so attached.) </p>
<p class="p1">No package had arrived in his time waiting either, and he patiently wondered whether Jisung would ever text him about it again. He also had no texts from Jisung each time he powered his phone on to check, and then he stopped checking just because he felt a little sad every time there was none. </p>
<p class="p1">(He was really, really attached.) </p>
<p class="p1">And suddenly, there was an incessant knocking on the door, and Minho jolted, confused. Did Hyunjin not have a key? </p>
<p class="p1">"Hyung, can you get the door?" Minho heard Hyunjin call. He sounded out of breath, like he was struggling to get the door open. "My hands are full!" </p>
<p class="p1">"What the fuck?" Minho mumbled under his breath as he got up. "Did you buy the entirety of Ikea or something?" </p>
<p class="p1">Minho opened the door, and he barely got it halfway open when his jaw dropped. </p>
<p class="p1">Because there, leaning heavily against Hyunjin with his eyes mostly closed, was <em>Han Jisung</em>. Han Jisung in all his glory, same tanned skin and sun-bleached hair--who was sweating a concerning amount for being inside an air-conditioned apartment complex. </p>
<p class="p1">"What the <em>fuck</em>?" Minho gaped, staring at Jisung. He almost reached out a finger to check if he was real, but he settled for pinching the skin of his own hip instead to make sure he wasn't dreaming. </p>
<p class="p1">(He wasn't.) </p>
<p class="p1">"Your package is delivered," Hyunjin grinned lightly and nudged Jisung a little bit. "It's slightly feverish and a little banged up, but I'd say I did a pretty good job getting it over here." </p>
<p class="p1">"What the fuck," Minho repeated for the third time in the past minute. "He looks like <em>shit</em>, Hyunjin--<em>what is going on</em>--okay I don't think you should be standing--will someone <em>please explain</em>?!" </p>
<p class="p1">Jisung was the one to speak this time. He opened his eyes properly and pushed himself off of Hyunjin, stumbled forward a little bit, and then dropped heavily. <em>Right</em> against Minho. Like, directly on top of him. </p>
<p class="p1">"Hi, hyungie," Jisung mumbled, and Minho honestly couldn't tell if he was choked up or if his throat was just incredibly sore. "Do you have a chair I can use?" </p>
<p class="p1">Minho couldn't help the disbelieving laugh that bubbled out of his throat as he almost instinctively tried to steady a very...<em>floppy</em> Jisung. </p>
<p class="p1">"Hyung, I know you're in like, your shock phase or whatever right now, but you <em>really</em> need to let him sit down or he might pass out," Hyunjin said, and there was a slight bit of urgency to his tone that startled Minho out of his 'shock phase' just long enough to realize that there was a feverish boy clinging to him still in the doorway of the apartment. He hurried to put an arm around Jisung's shoulders, helping him across the apartment as quickly as possible before letting him fall onto the couch with a deep exhale. </p>
<p class="p1">"Han Jisung is inside my apartment in Seoul," Minho said, completely deadpan. He turned to Hyunjin. "Hyunjin, <em>Han Jisung is inside of my apartment in Seoul</em>." </p>
<p class="p1">"Congratulations, you can see!" Hyunjin clapped lightly, and Minho was still too shocked to smack him upside the head. "You should also probably recognize that Han Jisung inside your apartment in Seoul is also half-dead at the moment." </p>
<p class="p1">Minho whipped around again to look at Jisung properly. His face was definitely a few shades paler than the rest of his body and his eyes had fluttered shut again, and he was breathing heavily from the exertion he probably <em>should not</em> have subjected himself to in the condition he was in. But he was here. Not on the islands, not on a screen, he was in front of Minho's eyes, 4D and breathing. </p>
<p class="p1">"Holy shit," Minho whispered. "You guys planned this together?" </p>
<p class="p1">Hyunjin shrugged. </p>
<p class="p1">"Not exactly. Sungie called me a couple of days ago and told me he wanted to surprise you the day after your finals and asked me to pick him up from the train station so he could do it. I didn't find out he was sick until he almost collapsed getting off the train." </p>
<p class="p1">"You kept a secret for two whole <em>days</em>?!" </p>
<p class="p1">"Oh, shut up, Minho-hyung, my mouth isn't that big," Hyunjin rolled his eyes. "Now can you please attend to the corpse on our sofa? He's gonna die if you don't pay attention to him soon." </p>
<p class="p1">Minho somehow kept forgetting that the subject of their conversation was still on their sofa and not a few hundred miles away. He sat down next to Jisung gently and placed the back of his hand gingerly against his forehead. </p>
<p class="p1">"Sungie," Minho hissed quietly when he pulled it away. "You're <em>burning up</em>." </p>
<p class="p1">"Should I get fever reducers?" Hyunjin hopped lightly on the balls of his feet and jabbed a thumb towards the bathroom. </p>
<p class="p1">"Yeah, and painkillers, just in case," Minho said, nodding at Hyunjin as he sped towards the medicine cabinet.</p>
<p class="p1">"Jisungie," Minho brushed his cheek lightly and then tapped it when he didn't respond. "Sungie, can you look at me please? You can't die on me after you came all the way here, I'm not letting you. Open your eyes for me." </p>
<p class="p1">"'M not dying," Jisung mumbled. Minho took the fluttering of his eyelids as a win, even if he didn't manage to open them completely. He reached out a hand blindly and felt around for a bit before his fingers landed on Minho's chest and he gathered the material of his shirt between his fist, tugging at it lightly. "See?" </p>
<p class="p1">Minho laughed lightly. He picked his own hand up off the couch and let it hover lightly before moving it up. He hesitated for a moment before resting his hand on top of Jisung's and bit his lip. </p>
<p class="p1">"I see that, Jisungie," Minho patted his fingers softly. "Why'd you come all the way over here like this? You must feel awful." </p>
<p class="p1">"Cuz I told you your package was gonna be delivered today," Jisung squeezed his hand around Minho's shirt. "Not going back on my word." </p>
<p class="p1">Minho's chest warmed and he literally felt his entire torso turn into a mushy goop of sappiness. His heart started to beat a little too excitedly against his ribcage, fluttering happily, and it was a wonder Jisung didn't seem to feel the turmoil under his hand. Then again, he looked like he was close to passing out again, so maybe it wasn't so much a wonder. </p>
<p class="p1">"Sung, you could've waited a couple of days," Minho said mournfully. "You must've suffered for five hours straight on the train." </p>
<p class="p1">Jisung tightened his fist again and let out a shuddery exhale. "Delivery date was <em>today</em>." </p>
<p class="p1">Minho was just lucky Hyunjin came back from the bathroom before he could turn into a complete puddle of adoration for Jisung and just melt on the floor. He had both painkillers and fever reducers in one hand and a bottle of water in the other, both of which he handed to Minho before ruffling Jisung's hair and disappearing off to his room. </p>
<p class="p1">"C'mon, let's get you up," Minho slid a hand behind Jisung and nudged his back gently, helping him fold into a floppy sort of sitting position. "Take these two pills for me and then I'm commanding you to bedrest for the next couple of days--wait, how long are you staying?" </p>
<p class="p1">Jisung held up three fingers tiredly as he slumped forward, hair falling in his face. </p>
<p class="p1">"I really hope that means three weeks and not three days," Minho muttered. Judging from Jisung's lack of protest, Minho wasn't in the wrong. </p>
<p class="p1">He managed to get Jisung to take the two pills and swallow some water. He forgoed the painkillers, though, because Jisung didn't seem to be in any excruciating pain at the moment and he felt like making him take unnecessary pills would enunciate that. Instead, he looped an arm around Jisung's waist and helped him through the hallway to Minho's bed, where he wrapped him in a cocoon and helped him flop down in a comfortable-ish position. </p>
<p class="p1">"You okay?" Minho let his hand brush against Jisung's cheek lightly to get his attention. "Need anything else?" </p>
<p class="p1">When Jisung shook his head, Minho nodded to himself and moved to get up from the bed. He didn't get very far, though, because Jisung's hand was suddenly clasping around his wrist and preventing him from going anywhere. </p>
<p class="p1">"Wait," Jisung said quietly, and then let go of Minho while he tried to sit up. It was pretty obvious he was struggling considering the burrito of blankets he was trapped in, but Minho found it quite adorable and perhaps it was for his own selfish satisfaction that he didn't really move to help Jisung while he wiggled into a sitting position. He beckoned Minho forward once he was upright enough, and Minho, confused, leaned down towards him. </p>
<p class="p1">And before he could really register what was going on, Jisung's lips were on his. And this time it was <em>not</em> his doing. </p>
<p class="p1">Jisung was feverish and his lips were dry against Minho's, but he was so caught up in his elated confusion that he didn't even notice. He didn't make a move to pull away as his eyes flew open in surprise, not until Jisung was the one to pull away and breathe out heavily. </p>
<p class="p1">He flopped back against the pillows and offered a bewildered Minho a tired, less animated version of his beach-boy smile. His hair was damp and it reminded Minho of the saltwater-wrung Jisung he was so used to seeing for a minute. </p>
<p class="p1">"Sorry it's a couple of years late," Jisung looked down at his blankets. "But happy summer, Minho-hyung." </p>
<p class="p1">Minho sat back down on the bed and rolled across Jisung's legs to get to him. A beaming smile stretched his lips and cheeks so far that they hurt, but he wouldn't change anything in that moment for the world. </p>
<p class="p1">"Happy summer, Jisungie." </p>
<p class="p1">And indeed, the summer was happy. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hello!<br/>i'm working on the next chapter of the hug fic and i have something really long in the works (it's gonna be angsty and i'm having a lot of fun writing it).<br/>i hope you enjoyed this!<br/>lots of love xx</p></blockquote></div></div>
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